offensive material

i'm not sure if this has ever been mentioned on here before, but i just thought of it because i was thinking about distros and all their guidelines. i'm not sure what to think about saying "no racist, sexist, homophobic, etc etc material will be accepted". i mean aren't zines supposed to be the one place where you can say what you want? is this just some other form of censorship? surely everything written is offensive to someone right?

i just feel really censored and uninspired right now, like i can't really say what i want to say without hurting someone's feelings and that really sucks. i mean, the distro thing doesn't really bug me, but just the fact that their are so many rules even in zines, just makes me irritated. can i really be offensive if i am talking about my own experiences? sometimes i want to write about types of people that annoy me or things they do, but then i'm racist or sexist or whatever. i'm not really sure i'm explaining how i feel properly. oh well.

Replies to This Discussion

Distros are fine. Inclusion/disclusion standards for each are fine. They are NOT "censorship".

The extent to which any "community" becomes boring/homogenized is a completely different question. All/many communities that may have started out bold and exciting, all throughout history, may have at some point, become ossified, blandly orthodox, etc. Maybe that's bad, maybe it's not so bad. Deep questions I will defer for later.

While distros/their owners have a right to run things their way, do they have any "moral" obligation to "support" the larger "zine scene"? Do they benefit from efforts by others to support/contribute to this "zine scene" (which I admit is a concept that's sort of problematical to define/grasp). If so, "should" they, in some way, "reciprocate"?

For me, the central supporting activity for the zine scene, is the "Big Inclusive Comprehensive as Possible" zine-reivew zine. It's voluntary advertising/propagation "socialism" (which is perfectly libertarian) and said review zine SHOULD accomadate/welcome the Papernetter, predominant OR EXCLUSIVE, much better than it has been lately. The Papernet perspective and communication-way has always seemed to me to be integral to the "zine scene". The Internet is here, and most are good at and enjoy it (which is great), but can we just try to INTEGRATE both modes as much as possible? If a website is the only practical option, all I ask is for something---very, very simple, in a printable/traditiona/space-economic layout, with discreet issues (not an ever growing cyber closet to get lost in), and inclusion of all ads/zines sent to it. I would volunteer as a distributor with a physical address so that anyone who wanted could order via the post office.

This way, we can get the "cross-pollination" of ideas Mike Gunderloy was aiming for in Factsheet 5, where often surprising and fascinating things turned up, like a visit through a big, messy, grungy, swap meet/flea-market full of "junK" and "treasures".

yep...'junk' and 'treasure' is an apt summation of zine-ry...happy 2010...a no-frills BLOG is probably the best and cheapest way forward..., but i'm a 'paperman' and am satisfied with my USA & foreign correspondents. so..., blessings and safety for all of us and those we care about.

James N. Dawson said:

Distros are fine. Inclusion/disclusion standards for each are fine. They are NOT "censorship".

The extent to which any "community" becomes boring/homogenized is a completely different question. All/many communities that may have started out bold and exciting, all throughout history, may have at some point, become ossified, blandly orthodox, etc. Maybe that's bad, maybe it's not so bad. Deep questions I will defer for later.

While distros/their owners have a right to run things their way, do they have any "moral" obligation to "support" the larger "zine scene"? Do they benefit from efforts by others to support/contribute to this "zine scene" (which I admit is a concept that's sort of problematical to define/grasp). If so, "should" they, in some way, "reciprocate"?

For me, the central supporting activity for the zine scene, is the "Big Inclusive Comprehensive as Possible" zine-reivew zine. It's voluntary advertising/propagation "socialism" (which is perfectly libertarian) and said review zine SHOULD accomadate/welcome the Papernetter, predominant OR EXCLUSIVE, much better than it has been lately. The Papernet perspective and communication-way has always seemed to me to be integral to the "zine scene". The Internet is here, and most are good at and enjoy it (which is great), but can we just try to INTEGRATE both modes as much as possible? If a website is the only practical option, all I ask is for something---very, very simple, in a printable/traditiona/space-economic layout, with discreet issues (not an ever growing cyber closet to get lost in), and inclusion of all ads/zines sent to it. I would volunteer as a distributor with a physical address so that anyone who wanted could order via the post office.

This way, we can get the "cross-pollination" of ideas Mike Gunderloy was aiming for in Factsheet 5, where often surprising and fascinating things turned up, like a visit through a big, messy, grungy, swap meet/flea-market full of "junK" and "treasures".

oh jim, it is 'censorship'. each 'distro' its own propaganda cache..., but who cares. i don't.

James N. Dawson said:

Distros are fine. Inclusion/disclusion standards for each are fine. They are NOT "censorship".

The extent to which any "community" becomes boring/homogenized is a completely different question. All/many communities that may have started out bold and exciting, all throughout history, may have at some point, become ossified, blandly orthodox, etc. Maybe that's bad, maybe it's not so bad. Deep questions I will defer for later.

While distros/their owners have a right to run things their way, do they have any "moral" obligation to "support" the larger "zine scene"? Do they benefit from efforts by others to support/contribute to this "zine scene" (which I admit is a concept that's sort of problematical to define/grasp). If so, "should" they, in some way, "reciprocate"?

For me, the central supporting activity for the zine scene, is the "Big Inclusive Comprehensive as Possible" zine-reivew zine. It's voluntary advertising/propagation "socialism" (which is perfectly libertarian) and said review zine SHOULD accomadate/welcome the Papernetter, predominant OR EXCLUSIVE, much better than it has been lately. The Papernet perspective and communication-way has always seemed to me to be integral to the "zine scene". The Internet is here, and most are good at and enjoy it (which is great), but can we just try to INTEGRATE both modes as much as possible? If a website is the only practical option, all I ask is for something---very, very simple, in a printable/traditiona/space-economic layout, with discreet issues (not an ever growing cyber closet to get lost in), and inclusion of all ads/zines sent to it. I would volunteer as a distributor with a physical address so that anyone who wanted could order via the post office.

This way, we can get the "cross-pollination" of ideas Mike Gunderloy was aiming for in Factsheet 5, where often surprising and fascinating things turned up, like a visit through a big, messy, grungy, swap meet/flea-market full of "junK" and "treasures".

zines can be about taking stuff and messing about with it. taking copyrighted images and changing them or whatever.copyright law can tell you what to do and not do, if you give a shit about it.most copyright owners won't even realise they own the copyright, let alone be bothered to seek out everyone who ever copies it. they will only know you have used their image in your zine if they pick up a copy of your zine. i think this is pretty unlikely.

it might be considered kind of mean to take an image or whatever and claim it as your won, but to me it seems pretty pointless. if i want a picture of something specific for my zine i just go photocopy something out of whatever i can find. i'm not going to be bothered to say whether it was me or someone else who first created that image, who cares?

I like it when a zines can be dangerous and subversive. I got a zine called Betty Page in Bondage. Its a underground "kvlt" metal zine. There was an interview with a band called Raw Hatred and when it came to the question of what zines he likes to read the guy answered that he likes to read white power zines like Lightning Bolt "when I can afford them". I thought that was fucked up and it made me think for a while and for part of the day I thought about race and peoples attitudes, etc. I feel like the fact that I could read that kind of stuff... most of the zines on Microcosm or even just in the zine publishing world are the same mindset "patriarchy, vegan, feminist, food not bombs etc etc" To me that shit is boring. So if I go onto a zine website and it gives a list of rules about stuff it will carry, that bums me out and I usually know there will not be a lot there to interest me.